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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A county official was fatally shot on the job Thursday, and authorities say the suspect is a fugitive from Washington state.

Lt. Robert Wurpes of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said the county weighmaster, whose name won’t be released until Friday, died at the scene near Boring, about 25 miles southeast of Portland. A passenger in the victim’s vehicle witnessed the slaying, he said.

The sheriff’s office identified the suspect as Dirck Morgan White, 41, of Edgefield, Wash. An outstanding warrant had been issued for him in Pierce County, Wash., because of a weapons violation.

Wurpes said he does not know how or why the weighmaster came into contact with the man, who was driving a pickup and trailer carrying firewood. A weighmaster ensures commercial truck drivers follow weight limits on roads.

“I don’t think the investigators are focusing on that right now,” he said. “We’ve gathered the evidence, and we’ll look at the details soon enough. But we’re focusing on the manhunt right now.”

Lacy Jobin, who was driving to work, told the Oregonian newspaper she saw the weighmaster turn on the lights in an attempt to pull over the pickup, and it took more than a half-mile for the driver to stop.

“The truck didn’t want to pull over or didn’t see him,” Jobin said.

Wurpes said the driver ditched the pickup after the shooting and switched to a silver Mercedes-Benz with the Washington license plate ANB7070. The manhunt was hampered by a storm that was expected to dump several inches of snow on a region that generally only sees it at higher elevations.

The Oregonian reported that White employs a variety of aliases and has at least three Seattle-area convictions, including a 1993 conviction for first-degree assault in which he was sentenced to nine years in prison.